Armature-winding machine.



w, A. VAN DEVEN.

ARMATURE WINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, H, I9I6.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES W. A. VAN DEVEN.

ARMAIURE wmome MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. H. 1916,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR Will/a m A. Van flea/e0 AT'ToRNEy Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

W. A. VAN DEVEN.

ARMATU RE WINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11. I916.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

INVENTOR l ATTRNEY UD ATS ATNT FIQEQ WILLIAM A. VAN DEVEN, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.31, was.

' Application filed March 17, 1916. Serial No. 84,913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. VAN DEVEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Armature-WVinding.Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to armature winding machines and it has special relation to machines for automatically applying coils of wire to wire-wound rotors of dynamo-electric machines.

One object of my invention is to providev panying drawings in which Figure 1 is aside elevational view, with parts in section; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a detail of the mechanism of Fig. 1; 3 1s a plan view of the structure shown 1n F1g. 1; Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the section belng taken substantially along the'line IVIV of Figs. 1 and 3, and Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of a reel support forming a part of the machine.

Wire wound rotors for dynamo-electrlc machines are commonly provided with coils which are formed separately and afterward applied to the armature core in the form of skeins. According to my present lnventlon, I dispense with the second of these operations and form the coils directly 1n place upon the armature core by rotating the core upon an axis extending perpendicularly to its normal axis of rotation and feeding the conductor wire from a stationary support directly to the slots of the armature core. Since the angular displacement or throw of the two slots in which each coil 1s wound is frequently less than 180, I provide means for rocking the armature core to and fro during each of its bodily rotations, the mag nitude of such oscillations being sufficient .to bring the slot in which the next turn of wire is to be placed directly opposite to the supply of wire. During the rocking movements of the armature core, I impart a pivotal movement to the member which guides the wire to the core in order to shape the end turns of the wire into arcuate form, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

The apparatus shown in the accompanying' drawing comprises a standard 1 of substantially cylindrical form upon which a table 2 is rotatably supported upon ball bearings 3. Brackets 4 carried by the table 2 are provided with bearings 5 in which are supported stocks 6 and 7 for rotatably supporting the shaft 8 of an armature core 9.

The shaft 8 may suitably be a dummy shaft or mandrel having a squared ,end 10 for engagement with the stock 7, whereby rotation of the stock 7 is transmitted to the armature core 9.

Outside of the bearing 5, the stock 7 carries a car wheel 11 meshing with a larger gear w eel 12 which may be provided with teeth upon a portion of its periphery only, and which is carried by a short shaft 13 mounted in the adjacent bracket 4. A rack 14, meshing with the teeth of the gear wheel 12, is vertically supported in a guide 15 carried by the table 2. The rack 14 extends through an opening in the table 2 and, below the table, is received in a depending guide member 16. A roller 17 is attached to a rack near its lower end and follows a groove formed in an endless cam member 18 that is rigidly secured to the standard 1 beneath the table 2. The cam member, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, comprises two inclined portions 19 and two horizontal or dwell portions 20, with the result that, dur ing each rotation of the table 2, the rack 14 is reciprocated vertically to rock the gear wheel 12, and, consequently, the armature core 7, once in a clockwise direction and once in a counter-clockwise direction. The magnitude of this rocking movement corresponds to the angular displacement 'or throw of the coils being wound and, in the ma chine shown in the drawing, the core is rocked through an angle of substan- Lially 90.

The table 2 is provided with a bevel gear ring 21 meshing with a bevel pinion 22 mounted on a horizontal shaft 23 that is supported in bearing brackets 24 carried by a standard 25. The shaft 23 may be rotated by any convenient means. As shown, a cone pulley 26 is loosely mounted thereon and is adapted to be secured for rotation with the shaft 23 by means of a friction clutch 27 of a well-known type. The clutch 27 is forced to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, into engagement with the pulley 26 by means of a foot lever 28 which is pivoted at 29 and operates through a link 30 and a bellcrank lever 31 to shift the clutch 27.

, Pivotally mounted upon a short standard 32, which is carried by the table 2 midway between the standards 4, is an indexing member 33 provided with a finger 34 that is adapted to enter one of the slots of the armature core 7 and insure that the core is properly positioned before the winding of each coil'is begun. The finger 34 is withdrawn from the armature core before the actual winding is begun and, during the winding of each coil, it occupies the posi tion shown in Fig. 1.

A standard 35 adjacent to the table 2 carries brackets 36 upon which is pivotally mounted a plate or frame 37 carrying brackets 38. A rod 39 is received in slotted bearings 40 in the brackets 38 and carries one or more reels 41 of conductor wire, three of such reels being shown in the drawing. The plate 37 centrally carries an extension 42 upon the outer end of which is adjustably supported a block 43 provided with wireguiding longitudinal openings 44 and with a curved tensioning member 45 of resilient material. To the member 42 is attached a depending bracket 46 to'which is adj ustably secured an arm 47 carrying a roller 48 that rests upon a cam member 49 which is fastened to the periphery of the table 2. The

portions of the cam ring 49 opposite to the ends of the armature core are provided with raised portions 50, as best shown in Fig. 1. It will be evident that, as the table 2 rotates to bring one end of the armature core opposite to the wire guide 43, at which time the rocking of the armature core is effected by the mechanism described above. the wire guide will be lifted and lowered by engagement between the roller 48 and one of the cam portions 50, the contour of the cam being so selected that the wire guide substantially follows the curvature of the armature core and shapes the wire into the arcuate 7 form which it is usually desired to impart to the end turns of the coils of dynamo-electric machines. In order to retain the wire in this curved form during the winding operation, a block 51, of circular or segmental form, is attached to the shaft 8 adjacent to each end of the core. The wire reels 41 may be provided with any usual means for tensioning the wire, and, if desired, the wire may be passed through a bath of impregnating material after leaving the supply reel and before being applied to the armature core.

In the operation of the machine which I have shown and described, the core to be wound, having its slots provided, if desired, with the usual paper cells, is placed upon a dummy shaft 8 and the shaft is supported between the stocks 6 and 7. Wire from one or more of the reels 41 is led through the guide block 43 and fastened to the armature core in any suitable manner. The foot lever 28 is then depressed, thus operating the clutch 27 to rotate the driving pinion 22 and the table 2, whereupon the armature core 9 is continuously rotated around a vertical axis midway between its ends. means of the rocking mechanism described above, each slot of the pair that is receiving the coil being wound is presented horizontally to the wire-guiding block, and the wire is therefore laid evenly in the slots. As the table rotates to bring the ends of the armature core opposite to the wire guide, the guide is raised and lowered in the manner described above, and this movement, in combination with the rocking movement of the armature core, shapes the end turns of wire in the arcuate form defined by the block 51. When the proper number of turns of wire have been deposited in the first pair of slots, which may be determined either by the operator or by means of a suitable counting mechanism, the foot lever 28 is released, the wire is cut, if necessary, and the core 9 is rotated to bring another pair of slots into proper position to receive the next coil, this position of the core being accentuated by means of the indexing finger 34. The wind ing operation is then resumed, being interrupted at intervals as each coil is completed until the armature is completely wound.

The above described machine effects an important saving in time and labor over the ordinary skein-winding methods and produces armature windings of great evenness and rigidity. Inasmuch as its operation is largely automatic, armatures may be completely wound in a small portion of the time ordinarily consumed for this operation. While I have shown and described the structure which now prefer to employ in practising my invention, it is to be understood that numerous structural modifications mav be effected therein without exceeding the limits of my invention and it is therefore to be understood that no restrictions are to be imposed upon my invention except such as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An armature-winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for applying wire to the said core and means for oscillating the said core upon its normal axis through an arc corresponding to the throw of the coil to be wound.

2. An armature-winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for applying wire to the said core, and means for automatically and periodically oscillating the said core upon its normal axis through an arc corresponding to thethrow of the coil to be Wound.

3. An armature winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for applying wire to the said core, and means for oscillating the said core upon its normal axis during each revolution through an arc corresponding to the throw of the coil to be wound, and for oscillating the said core in the reverse direction through the same are during another part of each revolution.

7 4. An armature-winding machinecomprising a rotatable table, means for supporting a slotted armature core thereon, a wire guide adjacent to the said table, means for rotating the said table, and means for periodically oscillating the said core upon its normal axis during each rotation of the said table.

5. An armature-winding machine comprising a rotatable table, means for supporting a slotted armature core thereon with its normal axis intersecting the axis of rotation of the said table, a wire guide adjacent to the said table, and means for periodically oscillating the said core upon its normal axis during each rotation of the said table.

6. An armaturewinding machine comprising a rotatable table, means for supporting a slotted armature core thereon with its normal axis centrally intersecting the axis of rotation of the said table, a Wire guide adjacent to the said table, and means for oscillating the said core upon its normal axis twice during each rotation of the said table.

7. An armature winding machine comprising a rotatable table, alined stocks thereon for supporting a slotted armature core,

a gear secured to one of the said supporting stocks, a rack operatively connected to oscillate the said gear, and means for periodically reciprocating the said rack.

8. An armaturewinding machine comprising a rotatable table, alined stocks thereon for rotatably supporting a slotted armature core, a gear secured to one of the said supporting stocks, a rack operatively connected to oscillate the said gear, a stationary cam member adjacent to the said table, and a cam follower associated with the said rack and with the said cam member for periodicallv reciprocating the said rack.

9. An armature-Winding machine coinrack twice during each revolution of the said table.-

10. An armature-winding machine comprising a rota-table table, alined stocks there on for rotatably supporting a slotted armature core, a gear secured to one of the said supporting stocks, a rotatable toothed member meshing with the said gear, a rack meshing with the said toothed member and carrying a roller, astationary cam member adjacent to the said table and cooperating with the said roller to reciprocate the said rack twice during each revolution of the said table, and core-indexing means associated with the said toothed member.

11. An. armature-Winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for guiding wire into a pair of slots in the said core during its rotation, and means for shaping the 4 turns of wire upon'the ends of the said core into arcuate form.

12. An armature-winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis. means for guiding wire into a pair ofslots in the said core during its rotation, and means operating during each rotation of the said core for shaping the turns of wire upon the ends of the said core into arcuate form.

13. An armature-winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that isangularly related to its normal axis, means for oscillating the said core periodically during each rotation thereof, and means for shaping the turns of wire upon the ends of the said core into arcs substantially concentric with the periphery of the said core.

14. An armature-winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularlv re lated to its normal axis, means for oscillating the said core periodically during each rotation thereof, and means operating during the periodical oscillations of the said 'core for shaping the turns of wire uponthe ing Wire into the slots in the said core, and means for shaping the turns of Wire upon the ends of the said core into arcuate form.

16. An armature-Winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core upon an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for oscillating the said core periodically during each rotation thereof, a stationary member for guiding Wire into the slots in the said core, and means for shaping the turns of Wire upon the ends of the said core into arcs substantially concentric With the periphery of the said core.

17. An armature-Winding machine comprising means for rotating a slotted armature core u pon'an axis that is angularly related to its normal axis, means for osclllating the said core periodically during each rotation thereof, a stationary member for guiding Wire into the slots in the said core, and means for moving the said member dur-' ing the periodical oscillations of the said core to shape the turns of Wire upon the ends of the said core into arcuate form.

18. An armature-Winding machine comprising a rotatable table, means for supporting a slotted armature core thereon, means for periodically oscillating the said core during each rotation of the said table, a member adJacen't to the said table for guiding Wire into the slots in the said core, and means for moving the said guide to form the turns of Wire upon the ends of the said core into arcs concentric with the periphery of the core.

19. An armature-Winding machine comprising a rotatable table, means for supporting a slotted armature core thereon, means for periodically oscillating the said core during each rotation of the said table, a member pivotally mounted adjacent to the said table for guiding Wire into the slots in the said core, cam members disposed upon the said table, and means cooperating with the said cam members and With the said guide for moving the said guide during the periodical oscillations of the said core to shape the turns of wire upon the ends of the said core into arcuate form. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this th day of Feb. 1916.

LLIAM A. VAN DEVEN. 

